But those foreseeing grave consequences, or crying foul over national bias need to cool it – for two reasons.

The first is that Gatland never actually made the above assertion, instead it was bolted on to expressions of concern about foreign media potentially targeting English boys with ‘stings’ and ‘set-ups’.

The idea that somebody as hard-nosed as the New Zealander will pick anything other than the best possible squad no matter where individuals hail from is misguided.

Hasn’t Gatland already set his stall out on that score by appointing English defence coach Andy Farrell as part of his backroom team, instead of his Wales sidekick Shaun Edwards?

Secondly, when it comes to launching grenades in the public domain, the Wales head coach has form. Real form.

Was Gatland unwise in a Lions interview to reference past English disciplinary issues by referring to the ‘circus’ that off-field antics ensured their 2011 World Cup campaign became? Definitely.

Regardless of what path the interviewer was trying to steer him down, there were far less incendiary responses he could have given.

But that’s what you get with Gatland. It’s not the first time, it won’t be the last.

Gallery: The men who put their hands up for Lions selection during Six Nations Round Two. Click 'show caption' for details

The former Waikato hooker simply doesn’t deal in platitudes. I don’t think I’ve ever returned from an interview with him without several different lines in my notebook deserving of back page banner headlines.

Sure, there are times when he’ll dip into the coaching book of cliches by talking about the opposition as if they’re the greatest outfit in the history of the game.

But usually at some stage of a press briefing, Gatland can’t help himself, even though his frustration with the way his utterances are portrayed are intermittently filtered back to journalists.

While this is not the first time Gatland has sparked controversy, it’s also not the first time he’s upset the English.

Before Wales faced the old enemy in the opening game of the 2011 Six Nations, Gatland caused uproar by accusing English hooker Dylan Hartley of “going to pieces” in a match for his club Northampton a fortnight earlier and suggested he might “crack under the pressure” at the Millennium Stadium.

When later asked if he regretted what he said, Gatland replied: “Sometimes when I’m in press conferences I get bored.

“You do more press conferences in a week than you normally play rugby

“Someone sometimes asks me an interesting question and I respond with an honest opinion. It is as simple as that.”

And that’s the crux of all this. Gatland isn’t interested in just saying what’s expected. He likes getting things off his chest, even if that might mean putting one or two noses out of joint.

But that comes with obvious pitfalls, as this week has reminded us.

Video: This week's Focus on Rugby show

Gatland, alarmed at the stir his original interview containing his English concerns had created, claimed his quotes were misinterpreted.

“I am extremely disappointed that anybody should try to misinterpret what I said and try to say that will count against English players,” Gatland claimed.

“The last thing I would do is limit the number of English players. There is absolutely no limit to the number of any players from any nation we will pick if they are worthy of a place on the tour. And I would happily pick 15 English players in the first Test at Brisbane if I thought they were the best 15 players for the job.”

Point taken. But in talking in detail about English players in the way he did, you could argue Gatland left himself open.

It was the same last August when he was quoted by a New Zealand website as saying he would have left Wales to coach Waikato Chiefs after the World Cup, if the contract offer had been more attractive.

He was reported as saying: “If they had have moved 10 or 15 thousand I would have said ‘okay, that’s great . . . you’ve moved a little bit’ and I would have taken the Chiefs job and (instead) they just said ‘take it or leave it’ and I said ‘thanks very much, I will leave it’.

I remember telephoning Gatland for a clarification of his position. He insisted his comments had been taken out of context, and that they had come from discussions held in an informal setting while at a function at the University of Waikato.

“I am totally loyal and fully committed to my role with Wales, and to say otherwise is ridiculous,” he subsequently said.

If I were a betting man, I’d wager there will be at least half a dozen instances between now and the end of the Lions tour this summer when the things Gatland says end up setting the news agenda.

Just like the time before the 2009 Championship decider at the Millennium Stadium when he provoked an international storm with his remarks about how the Welsh players viewed their Irish counterparts.

“The players’ experiences against Ireland and their experiences at provincial level against Leinster and Munster haven’t always been the greatest, so they are very motivated,” he said at the time.

“We’ve even talked about how, out of all the teams in the Six Nations, the Welsh players dislike the Irish players the most.”

When condemnation swiftly flowed from the Emerald Isle, Gatland piped up with: “I meant it as a compliment!”

He added: “I knew when I said it that it was going to get headlines. It got more of a reaction than I wanted. People have reacted rather than just take it with a grain of salt and as a backhanded compliment.”

You could even throw in Gatland’s claim about New Zealand having “lost their aura” made before they played Wales in Cardiff in November 2009.

Not the most acidic of observations perhaps but nevertheless one that underpinned the entire build-up to the contest, which Wales lost 19-12.

T’was always thus.

The Lions were said to view Gatland’s most recent interview as a fuss over nothing, and in the grand scheme of things, that’s almost certainly what it will turn out to be.

If the English are peeved at present then it’s easy to forget that back in November it was Welsh players who were being singled out because of poor form during the autumn series.

“There’s maybe a couple of lines gone through a couple of names and they need to re-establish themselves,” Gatland said.

A few took the first steps towards doing that in Paris last Saturday, but their Lions future depends on whether they continue that progress for the remainder of the Six Nations.

The same goes for players of England, Scotland and Ireland because in Australia Gatland knows it’s his reputation and coaching legacy that will be on the line.

So fear not Twickenham faithful; Gatland’s pledge to pick 15 Englishmen if form demands is no hollow soundbite.

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